Plant · P-657

File Sassafras

Sassafras albidum

The dried, ground leaves of this aromatic tree are file powder, the thickener stirred into gumbo, and its root bark was once the classic flavoring in root beer before the oil was banned as a carcinogen in 1960. Root bark tea served as a traditional spring tonic. The tree feeds wildlife heavily - birds eat the fruit, deer browse the leaves year-round, and four swallowtail butterflies raise their caterpillars on it. A single tree readily colonizes disturbed ground by root suckers, and its leaf litter suppresses germination of many plants growing beneath it.